Badge brightens a boy's life

10-year-old with rare illness wanted to be an officer since he was 3

By Paul Grondahl

Updated 10:18 pm, Friday, January 31, 2014

Jay Patrick "J.P." Honsinger, 10, who suffers from a rare neurodegenerative disorder, was sworn in, given a badge and made an honorary Troy police officer Friday, fulfilling the boy's wish. (Paul Grondahl / Times Union)
/ Times Union

J.P. Honsinger, 10, of Clifton Park, center, shakes hands with Police Chief John Tedesco, after being sworn in on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, at Troy Police Headquarters in Troy, N.Y. J.P., who has Niemann-Pick disease, was named an honorary member of the police force. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

JP Honsinger, 10, who has rare degenerative disorder, is sworn in as honorary Troy cop by Chief John Tedesco. (Paul Grondahl/Times Union)

JP Honsinger, 10, who has rare degenerative disorder, is sworn in...

J.P. Honsinger, 10, of Clifton Park, center, gets his badge pinned on from Officer Kyle Jones on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, at Troy Police Headquarters in Troy, N.Y. J.P., who has Niemann-Pick disease, was named an honorary member of the Troy police force. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Police Chief John Tedesco administered an oath and a shiny silver badge was pinned to the chest of 10-year-old Jay Patrick "JP" Honsinger, who suffers from a rare neurogenerative disorder, as the boy was made an honorary police officer Friday afternoon.

The apple-cheeked lad beamed beneath a slightly large brimmed police officer's cap. He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin as he wore a black clip-on tie against a navy blue uniform shirt, to go with a gap-toothed grin.

"Amazing. Super happy," the boy, a fifth grader at Arongen Elementary School in Clifton Park, said afterward. He said he wanted to be a police officer since he was 3, after he met Troy Officer Kyle Jones, a family friend, who helped put together the emotional program, which included a tour of headquarters and a ride-along for the boy in a police car.

His parents, sister, three dozen uniformed officers and Mayor Lou Rosamilia packed into a briefing room and applauded.

They called Honsinger's name in roll call and assigned him to Car 90 with Jones. "Tactical command will be under the director of Officer Honsinger," a commander said. The audience chuckled.

"We just try to make every day special for JP," said the boy's father, Jay Honsinger. He watched Jones grow up from the time he was a youngster, during annual summer gatherings with the Jones and Honsinger families in Schroon Lake.

"JP always looked up to Kyle," the father said.

Tedesco admitted the feel-good event — more than a month in the planning — gave officers a boost following a rough stretch that battered morale and harmed community relations. An early Saturday morning fight among customers at a downtown nightclub was quelled by cops, resulting in public outrage and allegations of police brutality.

"This couldn't have come at a better time," Tedesco said. "It's been a tough week for us, but JP's journey is a lot more difficult."

Honsinger was diagnosed last September with Niemann-Pick disease Type C, a severe metabolic disorder that has been called childhood Alzheimer's. It typically strikes children before or during adolescence. Symptoms include deterioration of memory and balance, lung and liver failure, delayed motor development and seizures. There is no known cure and those with the disease — only about 300 children across the U.S. — only occasionally live into adulthood.

"We tell him he has a condition. We don't call it a disease or discuss the details," said his mother, Donna Honsinger. The parents and daughter, Mollie, 13, have taken JP to see specialists in Boston and Minnesota. They're hopeful the boy can join a clinical trial of an experimental drug that has shown some promise in delaying progression of the disease.

JP continues to attend school full-time, despite the fact that his mother wakes him three times during the night to give him some of the 12 pills he takes each day.

"He just goes with the flow. He's so easygoing," she said, despite the boy's advancing symptoms. His parents take JP twice a week a week to a personal trainer, he swims once a week and also receives therapy to help him swallow — all in an attempt to slow the disease.

JP has been adopted by the University at Albany men's hockey team and he serves as their water boy at home games.

He displayed composure for such a tender age Friday, but his mother noticed a brace of media and the bright lights of television cameras overwhelmed her son momentarily. "I saw him cry for a second, but he's OK now," she said. "The whole 518 community has come together to support us. The kindness of people has been incredible."

Niemann-Pick disease refers to a group of severe metabolic disorders. In Type C (NPC), patients are not able to metabolize cholesterol and other lipids properly. This causes excessive amounts of cholesterol to accumulate in the liver and spleen and excessive amounts of other lipids to accumulate in the brain.

The disease is inherited. A mutated gene must be passed on by both parents, though the parents typically do not show signs of the illness. NPC affects about 1 in every 150,000 people, or fewer than 300 in the country.

There is no cure for NPC. People with the disease have short life expectancies. Though some live into adulthood, it is rare for them to reach age 40.

NPC patients are often put on a low-cholesterol diet or cholesterol-lowering drugs, but there is no evidence these treatments halt the progression of the disease.

Sources: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Genetics Home Reference/NIH, National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation Inc.